Can't Imagine Life Without You: Born To Die
by Katie Lyyn-98
Summary: ***WAS "BORN TO DIE." VISIT MY PROFILE FOR MORE INFO*** Clato fanfic about the lives of Cato and Clove before and during the Games. How they met, became friends, and eventually fell in love. And what all brings it to an abrupt end. Summary stinks, but the story is really good! Please read! Rated T because of violence and I'm a scaredy-cat
1. Chapter 1

_**Merry Christmas!**_

_**So, yes, I should probably be working on The Secrets They Kept From Me, but I've had this idea for a while, and have been wanting to work on it. Not to mention I'm kind of stuck on that fic.**_

_**I got this idea about a month or two ago when I decided my little sister, who I share a room with, was being annoying and I needed to teach her a lesson. At this point, she had not read the books or watched the movies, and only knew what I had told her, yet she was a die-hard Clato fan. She ranted on and on about how Thresh was awful and she was glad Cato killed him and blah blah blah. So, I told her a story that went a lot like this. Hope you enjoy! BTW, Eyes Open (the song) goes pretty well with this, from what I've heard of it. **_

_**(Disclaimer: *looks in mirror and squints* Nope, I haven't turned into Suzanne Collins yet, but I'm trying! Maybe when you finish reading this, I'll have turned into her.)**_

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Born to Die

Chapter one:

_Oof. _

Clove punched at the plastic dummy in the training center, nearly out of breath. Her dad shook his head and grunted. "You're gonna have to do better than that, Clove. We're from District Two. Not Twelve."

Clove bent over, gripping her knees, panting. "Yes . . . Daddy. I'm . . . trying." She said, trying to catch her breath.

Her dad jerked his head. "Trying isn't good enough. You're gonna have to _do_."

Clove nodded. "Yeah."

"Excuse me?"

Clove shook her head. "Sorry. Yes, sir."

He moved away from her, towards the door leading outside. "Good. I'll be back in ten minutes. Keep practicing. Your games are only six years away."

Clove nodded again and moved away from the punching bag. She walked over to the knife stand, like she did every day, at this exact time. The only thing different this time was someone else standing there. No one ever went to the knife stand around this time. _Everyone _knew better.

A growl rumbled low in Clove's throat, and she stormed over to the kid. She grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, jerking him around to face her. He was taller than her, and much bigger, but that didn't bother her very much. She could take him on easily. He had blonde hair and blue eyes that seemed confused and entertained, as if he found the fact a girl – much smaller than him, in fact – would dare interrupt his knife-throwing.

Clove stood on her tiptoes and looked straight into his eyes. "_What_ do you think you are doing?"

The boy smirked. "Throwing knives. What do you think you are doing?"

Clove narrowed her eyes. "Get lost. Go find your own stand to play at. I come here every day, and everyone knows it. I suggest you back off and never show yourself around the knives while I'm here again, unless you want me to carve your ugly face for you."

Instead of running scared like most kids did, the boy snorted and leaned back against the wall, crossing his arms. "Oh, really? I'm not scared of you. You're what, twelve?"

Clove felt her eyebrow twitch. "As a matter of fact, yes. But my age is none of your business. Neither are the knives while I'm here."

"Ha. You are one funny kid. What's your name, anyway?"

"I could ask you the same thing, jerk."

"Well, if you're wondering, I'm Cato. And I'm also twelve. Cool to meet another kid here. It's mostly sixteen year olds." He gestured to all of the rowdy and violent people around them.

Clove glanced around. She had also noticed the lack of younger kids. Not like she really cared. This wasn't a place where you make friends. It was a place where you train hard, so you have a better chance of winning The Games. She shrugged and crossed her arms. "Yeah, so?"

Cato smirked, and she suddenly had the urge to slap him. "I was just saying. So, what's your name?"

She looked at the ground. "Clove."

Cato seemed to think about it. "Clove . . . Clove . . . Hmm, cool name, Clover."

Another twitch. "Don't call me Clover."

"I'll call you whatever I want to, Clover."

With that, Clove grabbed a knife and threw it at the target, hitting it in the middle. Cato's mouth dropped open, and then he closed his mouth and nodded. Clove crossed her arms again. "Call me Clover again, and I promise you'll regret it. I'll use you for target practice." She turned on her heel and walked away.

* * *

This went on for the next few weeks. Cato would come into the training center, find her, and pester her about something new when her dad wasn't around. Clove would try to ignore him, but there were times when he would surprise a laugh out of her or frustrate her beyond no end, and those were times she couldn't help but want to smack him. Sometimes she did.

And then Cato found her in school. She had been sitting by herself, eating lunch when he came up to her. She groaned out loud and hit her head on the table. "Are you stalking me?"

Cato smirked and sat down. "Nah, you're too boring to stalk."

Clove glared at him. "Then why do you seem to suddenly appear everywhere I am?"

Cato shrugged. "I'm not sure. Why don't you tell me, Clove?"

Clove took a bite of her sandwich. "I wish you'd get lost and leave me alone for good. Then my life would be perfect."

Cato shook his head. "Don't you want friends? Don't you have any friends?"

Clove sighed. "No. I don't need friends. I don't want friends. I don't have time for friends. And do you have any friends, or do they all stalk people who don't like them too?"

"Nah. No one really likes me."

Clove rolled her eyes. "Wow. I wonder why?"

Cato threw a chip at her. "Shut up." He paused for a second, causing Clove to wonder if he was feeling alright, since all he did was talk. "Look, can we be friends?"

Clove thought about it for a minute. "Why do you want to be my friend?"

"Because . . . because I think we're both a lot alike. We're both tired and busy and lonely, but hate to admit it to ourselves or anyone else. I just think you could use a friend, and I know I can. It's not like I have many people begging to be my friend."

Clove nodded. "Okay, fine. Friends. But it has to be a secret. My mom and dad wouldn't be happy if they knew I was playing with friends instead of training in my free time."

Cato's grin could have split his face. "Awesome. Thanks, Clove. You won't regret it, I promise. We'll be best friends forever, okay?"

Clove shrugged. "Sure, I guess. Who knows? It might even be fun."

Cato was still grinning. "Of course it will be. We're talking about me here!"

Clove smiled a little. "You are way too confident."

Cato winked and stood from the table. "Well, I'll see you later friend!" He turned and ran from the room, still smiling like a fool.

"See ya . . . _Friend_." Clove mumbled, even though he was already gone.

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**I hope you enjoyed it! I'll be writing a few more chapters. I might get it up to 10 chapters, though I'm not completely sure. Let me know what you thought! I'd love to have a few reviews. Also, sorry for any mistakes. I wrote this at 2 AM. **


	2. Chapter 2

_**New chapter! My sister is not happy that I'm posting this story on the internet, because she says I'm not "A Clato fan" and won't "Know how to portray it just right." This might be true, so I apologize in advance. This takes place two years after the last chapter, and we will do "a year later" each chapter until they get in the Games. And from there, I'll do it like a "day-by-day" thing. **_

_**BTW, Cato and Clove still die in the Games. I'm a die-hard Everlark fan, so there is no way I'd kill them off. **_

_**Oh, oh, oh! I just remembered, THANK YOU FOR THE REVIEWS! I loved them. Reviews make my day, so please remember to review!**_

_**(Disclaimer: Dude, I'm still not Suzanne Collins. If I were, I'd find a way to see the official Catching Fire trailer, and get it out to all fangirls all over the world. And people would love me forever.)**_

Born to Die

Chapter two:

14 year old Clove stood behind the schoolhouse, waiting for Cato to appear. When he finally did, Clove grabbed him by his collar and dragged him behind the building. "What took you so long?!" She nearly shouted.

Cato rubbed the back of his neck when she released his shirt from her grip. "Well, I had to maneuver my way through a group of giggling girls who were gossiping about . . . whatever they were gossiping about. And then I tripped over—"

Clove sighed and waved her hand. "Whatever, whatever. I get it. Okay, I have training in two hours. Where do we plan on going?"

"You'll see."

"Cato, seriously. You cannot just say, 'you'll see.' My dad will kill me if I don't show up for training in two hours."

"Shut up, Clove. Live a little. So your dad will be a little mad, so what? It's not the end of the world. And it's not him preparing to go into the games and have a bunch of other kids try to murder him, now is it?"

"Well, no, but still. If I want to have any chance of winning—"

Cato whirled around and threw his hands in the air. "We have _four_ years, Clover. _Four._ Being five minutes late for training won't hurt anyone. Least of all your dad." He turned back around and marched on.

Clove sighed and tossed her black ponytail to the side. "Wait up, Cato. I didn't mean to make you mad. I know it isn't about my dad, but I'm worried, okay? I want to win."

Cato glanced at her and frowned. "Yeah, everyone does. But we can't all win."

"Of course not. What are you getting at?"

"Nothing." He waved off her concerns. "Look, we're here."

Clove hadn't even noticed they were walking. She'd been too busy arguing with him. She looked around, her eyes taking in everything. It was like a meadow, and a garden. Flowers and bushes swept over the yellow-green grass, and there were a few trees scattered around. She grinned. "This place is awesome! Thank you, Cato!" She hugged him and ran around.

Cato laughed. "I know. I found it about a week ago. No one else knows about it."

"Great! Now, I dare you to climb that tree." She pointed to the largest tree of them all.

Cato shook his head. "Nah, I hate trees. I fell out of one when I was little, and I nearly died."

Clove frowned. "That's awful, but you're not little anymore."

"No, but I'll keep my feet on the ground, thank you very much. Why don't you climb it?"

Clove rolled her eyes. "Because I don't want to. And I wasn't dared."

"Fine; I dare you to climb that big tree without falling and breaking your neck, and/or dying."

"Nope. Can't dare me after I dare you."

"Oh, is that a rule?" Cato said with a laugh.

"You bet it is! And you can't break a rule, or I'll never be friends with you again."

Cato smirked. "Oh, so I guess you think I can't live without you?"

Clove punched his shoulder. "Dude, you _know_ you can't live without me. You can't even think like that without crying like a baby."

"Whatever. I don't cry."

"I bet you would if I died. You would cry and cry and cry, and then you'd be sorry for all of the mean things you do."

Cato scoffed. "Like what?"

Clove smiled slyly. "Like taking over the knife throwing stand when I get to the training center. That's cruel, and you're almost begging for me to beat you."

"Meh. You do worse things."

"Like what?! What could be worse than that!"

Cato made a face that seemed to be a cross between shock and despair. "Like throwing a knife at my head."

Clove crossed her arms and glared. "You shouldn't have stood in front of the target."

Cato laughed. "I wasn't! I was walking past the target so I could get to the swords! You threw the knife at me, and I almost got hit!"

"Aww, poor wittle Cato. He almost got hit wif a knifey?" Clove poked out her bottom lip and tried to look sympathetic. "You better get used to it, friend. I have a feeling it will be much worse in the games."

Cato shrugged. "Nah, not for me. For you on the other hand . . ."

Clove growled and lunged at him. She tackled him to the ground and made a stabbing motion. She pushed herself to her feet and dusted herself off. "You're dead. I killed you. See how easy that was? I have nothing to worry about, but you do." She looked off in the distance, as if she could see her games. "You gotta stay focused Cato. In your games . . . I'm sure no one will hesitate to take out their biggest competition."

Cato looked slightly pleased as he pushed himself up. "So you think I'm the biggest competition?"

Clove rolled her eyes. "You haven't volunteered yet, dummy. So no." Cato's face fell, so Clove continued quickly. "But you're a Career. Which means you have the best chance of winning. Those wimps from One, Three, Four, Eleven, and Twelve have no chance of winning. They rarely win."

"True." Cato looked back in the direction they came and sighed. "We better get back before someone misses us."

"Yeah," Clove agreed. They walked back towards the school and went to the training center, an hour before Clove's father wanted her there. Their secret friendship was safe for another day.

**I hope you enjoyed it! I'll try to get the next chapter up soon. And their games should start in about four more chapters, maybe three. Thanks for reading! Please leave a little review in that box down there. |~ K.L. **** \/**


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